The Ghost Ships of Archangel

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On July 4, 1942, four Allied ships broke away from their damaged convoy in the Arctic, seeking refuge from Nazi bombers and U-boats amidst the treacherous ice fields. This perilous journey offered a better chance of survival than the doomed Convoy PQ-17, which consisted of thirty-five cargo ships carrying $1 billion worth of war supplies to the Soviet port of Archangel. This limited support from Roosevelt and Churchill aimed to sustain their fragile alliance with Stalin while avoiding direct involvement in the European conflict. The high-stakes politics behind Convoy PQ-17 were distant concerns for the diverse crews aboard the ships. U.S. Navy Ensign Howard Carraway, a farm boy from South Carolina, and Ensign William Carter of the U.S. Navy Reserve, who had turned down Harvard Business School to serve, faced their first taste of war. Meanwhile, the narrative highlights the diplomatic maneuvers of Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin that jeopardized their missions. The relentless Arctic daylight offered no respite from the German battleship Tirpitz, known as The Big Bad Wolf, while icebergs posed as significant threats. As the fragile alliance teetered on the brink of collapse, the remnants of Convoy PQ-17 fought to navigate the Arctic, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.